Dialogue Tags (Said, Asked, Replied)

This dialogue tags quiz helps KS1 children identify the difference between the words ‘said’, ‘asked’ and ‘replied’. These skills will aid their English and literacy comprehension abilities as outlined in the National Curriculum. When reading dialogue, various different tags are used and children are encouraged to use tags other than ‘said’ in their dialogue writing.

When somebody in a story speaks, the writer tells us by using speech marks and writes ‘said’, ‘asked’ or ‘replied’. These verbs are then followed by a noun or proper noun – explaining who is speaking.

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Said, asked and replied are all ways of saying that somebody has spoken - they are also verbs, which means they are doing words.

2.

"Yes you can water the garden." How should this sentence end?

asked his grandpa.

said his grandpa.

his grandpa.

replied his grandpa.

The sentence sounds like he is replying, because he is saying 'yes'.

3.

"I'm not sure," he replied. Why have we used the word 'replied'?

Because we already used said.

Because the speaker is replying to a question or comment.

Because we already used asked.

Because he is asking a question.

If you use the word replied, it means they are answering or adding to something somebody has already said. This means there will be some speech beforehand or an assumption that somebody has spoken before this comment.

4.

Which sentence is perfect?

"No thank you," asked the girl.

"No thank you," said the girl.

"No thank you," replied the girl.

"No thank you," the girl.

We could use the word 'said' here but it is clear she has replied to a question and so, 'replied' makes more sense.

5.

Which of these would the 'said' tag match?

"Can I borrow your bike?"

"Watch out!"

"I like your bike,"

"No, I disagree with you."

If somebody is shouting, and using an exclamation mark, we wouldn't say 'said', we would use words like 'shouted' or 'screamed'.

6.

"Can I have some?" How should this sentence end?

replied Alison.

asked Alison.

said Alison.

Alison.

She is asking a question and that is why 'asked' is the best way to tag the dialogue.

7.

Which sentence is perfect?

"What did you get for your birthday?" said Ashley.

"What did you get for your birthday?" replied Ashley.

"What did you get for your birthday?" asked.

"What did you get for your birthday?" asked Ashley.

When adding a dialogue tag, we must always say who is speaking.

8.

"Can I help you?" asked Debbie. Why have we used the word 'asked'?

Because we used said too many times already.

Because I can't spell said.

Because I like that word the most.

Because the speaker is asking a question.

If you say somebody asked something, then they are asking a question and so, a question mark will need to be written.

9.

Which sentence is perfect?

"Can I borrow your umbrella?" asked the lady.

"Can I borrow your umbrella?" asked.

"Can I borrow your umbrella?" said the lady.

"Can I borrow your umbrella?" said.

You can write a dialogue tag even if you don't know the name of the person speaking, instead of using a proper noun, you can just write the noun - like lady.

10.

When using the phrase 'asked', what type of punctuation must be used within the speech?